Volendam Aft Cabin??

[boomerSexyK]

I originally posted this on the HAL boards, but might make more sense here. DW & I are thinking about a partial Panama next April on the Volendam. I noticed that there are four HC cabins with balcony (yes I need one!) in the aft ..... AA7087, AA7088, B6225, B6228. Can anyone give me the lowdown on these cabins? We were thinking that a Panama from the aft would be very nice.

[leoandhugh]

while we have not been on the volendam, we spent 30 days on the amsterdam this year in one of the 2 Acabins, and they are the same. you don't say why you need one, just that you do, so i'll try to address it from a wheelchair point of view. bathroom is level floor, roll-in shower with fold down seat, grab bars and for toilet. the door out to the balcony is ramped but we still got the scooter stuck on occasion for lack of sufficient clearance. the balcony is not as large as it appears on the diagram because the rear third is not really usable. the cabin is directly below the pool deck above and when they hosed that off early every morning it invariably came down and we had to wipe off the furniture. with the beds in the normal position it was impossible to get the wheelchair between the end of the bed nearest the balcony and the desk/vanity corner. we finally had them put the beds one against each wall from side to side - that gave us a straight shot through from the cabin door to the balcony and made the room much more usable.

one further thought, having done several trans Panama Canal cruises -the balcony of your cabin is the last place you want to be for that experience. you want to see where you are going, not where you have been so you understand what is going on - usually there is an employee of the canal on board to explain the operation, but the commentary is normally piped only in to the public areas and not the staterooms.

we also had the coffee table removed from in front of the sofa - also to give more space for turning the wheelchair.:)

[strick1042]

The wife and I were in cabin B6225 about 4 years ago. The balcony is a little bigger than the others. Holland American wheelchair rooms tend to be long

and skinny. Room to get around, but not as big as other cruise lines. You

are at the end of a long hall, which was a pain on luggage nite. Great view

from the back of the ship. Any questions let me know. I am in a wheelchair

and just booked my 16th cruise.

 

Bill

[boomerSexyK]

Thanks for the info guys..)) I'm on a TravelLite scooter (not-confined). I don't think the hallway should be a problem (other than luggage night) I was just thinking that the aft balcony should be a bit larger and have never experienced the wake of the cruise before. More for my wife than me. My TA is stll checking to see if one of these is even available.

 

Failing one of these four cabins is still available, there is an 'S' on the Navigation deck as well, just not sure about dropping the extra $$$'s. Any feedback on that idea?

[leoandhugh]

although we have never been "flush" enough for the S, I do know that it is not fully handicapped. HAL has a subtle distinction - something about handicapped accessible - which means it is not an extra wide door, there is a lip into the bathroom and another into the shower. however the shower is so-called roll-in once you are over the lip. and the door to the verandah is not fully ramped. in truth, it was not built as a handicapped suite - they took an existing suite and modified it.

since you are not "confined" the A or B should work for you; the wake is not a problem - no vibration; the ship has azipods as opposed to regular propellers. even going full speed for several days at a time as we did in the pacific this january, it was fine.

[Splinter]

Having done the Canal several times, I would agree that a view from the front of the ship is better than from the back. Also it is so hot in Panama (even in Jan.) that being outside on your deck, even in the shade, may be too much, esp. someone with heat tolerance problems such as a person with MS. We much prefer to watch from forward, and in an air conditioned space (except for short times outside for photos). On HAL our first choice is the Crow's Nest for anything we want to see while the ship is under way.

 

When we went on the Zenith, the captain invited all those on board with mobility disabilities to do the transit in his private lounge. The was great, although the door was too narrow for wheelchairs. We had to get help from his steward (who spoke no English) to jimmy the chair through the door. Once we did this though we were served lunch and drinks and had a great time. The lounge was one deck below the bridge, with picture windows, so we had a great view. I am not sure if any Celebrity captains do this any more, but it was a very nice gesture.

[DEL67]

I have to agree with the others, the best place to view the canal transit is the front of the ship. We did the transit on the Celebrity Infinity. Our cabin was in the front of the ship, and my sister's was 2 cabins down in the center of the ship so we had a great view while sitting in air conditioned comfort.